My latest on the Lakers and their current situation. It feels as though it's all coming to a head now, the old school mentality vs. new school sensibility. Let's hope it all works out in the end. Hope you guys like it!
Plain and simple it's what we all are thinking. I have nothing invested in this Laker roster other than Clarkson. Kelly and Black should be playing major minutes to either prove they belong on the team next year or be shipped out. All the rest including Young, who needs to be traded to get rid of, need to be renounced and sent packing. Like you said they are all auditioning, not so much for the Lakers but for other teams...just like Meeks last year who got a ridiculous contract from Detroit. That is what is on their minds. This current game planning could very well blow the top 5 pick chances, which will delay the rebuild by at least two years. Sure they will get their #1 pick the following year after giving it up this year, but I sure don't want to see another season like this next year, just focusing on who they may draft, hoping for them to lose to improve their lottery position ...ect ect. What I envision if they lose the pick is them picking up Hill's option, keeping Young, Kelly, Sacre, Ellington, and probably Price. With Kobe, Randle, and Clarkson that gives them 8. Davis will get offers that they won't want to match, so will Lin and Boozer. Johnson won't and could again be the last guy added to the roster. Add in their late 1st rounder from Houston and their 2nd rounder, and there we go...Another season of this. Drawing a quality FA with their cap space will be a tough sell with a roster that looks like this.
I've said it many times, but if the Lakers can keep this pick it will be the highest draft pick they will have had since 1982. For the rebuild, for the future, and maybe most importantly for the fan base they absolutely have to keep it. If Scott continues playing Lin, Hill, Ellington, and Davis major minutes while benching Black and barely playing Sacre it probably won't happen. Keeping the pick is 100% on Byron's shoulders, which is scary because his statements and actions over the past week and a half have proven he's totally and completely clueless.
Good read. Yeah, it's bizarro world to be rooting against your own team and complaining about wins but this is what we are faced with this year. At the beginning of the season I wasn't for tanking at all, but with Randle going down in the very first game and then later with Kobe going down again with another season ending injury, plus our terrible record, it's the only sensible thing. There was no chance for any other kind of redemption this season. Keep the pick = best possible outcome. Lose the pick = worst. It's the only thing left to determine whether this season is a success in any way. If we don't keep the pick it's an abject failure on all levels.